Q872: Wife's past sin is disturbing me

As Salam,

Urgent
After marriage I found out that my wife was in a relationship with a non muslim, will it be wrong for me to divorce her as I am after a wife of purity. Also when I think of this it disturbs me in my mind and can sometime lead to dealing with her unjustly with anger, would it be better to divorce? Please advice.
JazakAllah

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Answer:

In the aforementioned scenario, if you are aware that this was something that had happened in the past and now she has changed her ways and has abandoned this act and has no form of connection with that person then it would be best to keep her as your wife and maintain your marital bond.

It has been narrated in a hadith that;
كل بني آدم خطّاء و خير الخطائين التوابون (رواه ابن ماجه 4251)
“All the children of Adam (peace be upon him) are wrongdoers. And the best of the wrongdoers are those who repent.”

If you wife has repented and reformed then it is inappropriate to keep on reminding her and making her feel guilty and embarrassed of a sin which she had committed in the past and has repented from. Let bygones be bygones. Start from a new clean slate and don’t let shaitan ruin your family.

If however she is still indulging in this vice, and you have tried to work things out but cannot come to any solution then you may divorce her if you please.

A man brought a similar case before the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him). The incident was that the man felt some suspicious activities were going on from his wife’s side. The prophet (peace be upon him) advised the man to leave her, but when the husband said that he loved her, the Prophet (peace be upon him) said that he should counsel her.
And Allah knows best
Wassalam